Stockbridge man asks for cops to shoot him

A Stockbridge resident was injured Monday afternoon when he tried to get a crowbar away from a man who threatened two cops, asking them to shoot him.

According to police reports, the incident began at around 5:30 p.m. when Madison County sheriff's deputies responded to 6618 Peterboro Road for a domestic dispute. In her report, Deputy Valerie Clarke said she could hear screaming inside. She then walked to the front of the house and a white man, later identified as Richard L. Wooden, threatened her with a crowbar.

Clarke said Wooden, 21, broke a patio door with the crowbar when he saw Oneida City police officer David Meeker get out of his car. Wooden ran at both officers telling them he was going to hit them, screaming at them to shoot him. The officers got behind Clarke's patrol car and watched as Edward A. Mann, 41, of the same address, asked Wooden to drop the tool. They wrestled, then police took Wooden into custody.

Clarke said Mann was hit with the crowbar during the tussle. He was treated at Oneida Healthcare Center for a cut to his head. Inside the home, Clarke said she found Wooden's mother and a baby locked in a bedroom. Brenda L. Whitman, 46, said that Wooden had choked her with a phone cord, punched her in the face and threatened to kill her and the baby. Clarke said there were several holes in the house walls, the refrigerator had been tipped over and kitchen drawers had been emptied onto the floor.

No police were injured, according to Madison County Sheriff Ronald Cary.

Wooden was charged with menacing a police officer, a Class D felony, and third-degree assault and criminal mischief, Class A misdemeanors. Cary said the investigation is continuing and that Wooden may face additional charges. Wooden was arraigned in Oneida City Court and jailed in lieu of $25,000 cash or $50,000 bail bond. He is to appear Thursday in town of Stockbridge court.

Staff writer Kathy Coffta Sims wrote this report. She can be reached at 470-3253 or kcoffta@syracuse.com.